Seating arrangement



y 7- w. A. B ROWN 2,080,458

SEATING ARRANGEMENT Filed May 7, 1,935 2 sheets-sheet 1 NVENTOR WQ GM ATTORNEY May 18 1937.

A. BROWN SEATING ARRANGEMENT Filed May 7, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Ki 7 W ZZ 4,644

ATTORNEY Patented May 18, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SEATING ARRANGEMENT William A. Brown, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application May 7, 1935, Serial No. 20,250

Claims. (Cl. 296-6 My invention relates to a novel superimposed ment is preferably such that single individual seating arrangement which can be employed in seats are provided adjacent to the windows, in conjunction with any type of a vehicle used for combination with a central longitudinal row of transporting passengers such as, for example, individual seats with aisles between the central 5 buses, trolley cars, trains, trams, boats, airplanes row of seats and the side seats. 5 and dirigibles irrespective of whether the vehicle A further object of the invention is to provide travels on land, water or in the air. a novel seating arrangement of superimposed The prime object of this invention is to proseats wherein either the upper or lower central vide a commercially practical construction row of seats is accessible from one aisle and the 10 wherein thoroughly comfortable individual seats other row of central seats is accessible from the 10 are used for all forms of passenger transportaother aisle. tion, without increasing the overall dimensions With the above and other objects in view, as of standard bodies and more specifically without will hereinafter more clearly appear, my invendecreasing the passenger carrying capacity of tion comprehends a novel seating arrangement. the vehicle. It further comprehends a novel superimposed, in- 15 Another object of this invention is to provide dividual seating arrangement which will proa superimposed seating arrangement in which vide proper ventilation, leg room, aisle space, and the passengers vision of surrounding objects, exvision for each passenger.

terior to the vehicle body, closely approximates Other novel features of construction and adand in many instances is superior to that of vantage will hereinafter more clearly appear in 0 tendard body construction. the detailed description and the appended Another object of this invention is to provide claims. obliquely positioned upper and lower divisions Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a seating of a superimposed seating arrangement to elimiarrangement embodying my invention.

5 nate the disagreeable effects of a blank wall in Figure 2 is a sectional View of the seating arclose proximity to the line of vision. rangement seen in Figure 1 the section being A further object of this invention is to protaken substantially on line 2-2 of Figure 1. vide obliquely positioned upper and lower divi- Figure 3 is a transverse section, taken substanof a superimposed single seating arrangetially on line 33 of Figure 1.

merit in order that each passenger may have Figure 4 is a side elevation of a portion of a an adequate leg room without materially changing seating arrangement embodying my invention. the overall length of the entire vehicle body, or Figure 5 is a schematic view of a permanent the aisle space between rows of seats. seating arrangement embodying my invention.

Another object of this invention is to provide Similar numerals of reference indicate corresufiicient aisle space between rows of seats to sponding parts.

expedite loading and unloading as well as ample Referring to the drawings: 1 standing room, if required. I designates a motor vehicle, illustrated as a In superimposed seating arrangements heretobus construction, which is adapted to be driven fore devised, it has been customary to provide by any type of motive power, and as these fea- 40 double seats at each side of a center aisle, the retures do not form per se any part of my in- 40 sult of which is that the persons seated nearest vention, I have deemed it unnecessary to illusthe aisle do not have the same vision as those trate and describe such mechanism and to only seated at the windows, and furthermore, where illustrate the wheels 2 which may have any dethe seats are transversely disposed, so that they sired type of tread, such as, for example, pneuextend straight across the vehicle, all that the ocmatic or solid. tires. 45 cupants, adjacent to the aisles, can see when The body 3 of the vehicle is carried on girders looking forward is a blank. wall formed by the l, or their equivalent, which support the deck 5 partitions. and in the case of a bus it is provided at its It is therefore a further and primary object of forward end with a conventional loading platmy invention to devise a novel seating arrangeform entrance to which and exit from which ment whereinindividual rotatable seats are prowould be controlled in the conventional manner, vided for the passengers, which may be disposed by suitable doors controllable by the driver of at an angle to the length of the vehicle so that the vehicle. each passenger will have a clear forward and In Figures 1 to 4 inclusive I have illustrated the 5 side view'through the windows. The arrangepreferred embodiment of my invention, wherein the seating arrangement is such that individual side seats 6 and I, a central row of individual seats 8 and two aisles 9 and III, are provided. In this manner each passenger is provided with his own individual seat.

The compartments for the individual side seats 6 incline inwardly and rearwardly towards the aisle l0, while the compartments for the individual side seats 1 incline inwardly and rearwardly toward the aisle 9. The compartments for the individual central row of seats 8 have the same inclination as the compartments for the individual side seats 1 at the right hand side of the bus, so that the right hand row of seats and the central row of seats will have a clear vision through the right hand windows II, and, of course, the occupants of the left hand row of seats 6 will have a clear vision through the windows |2. In many cases in practice the occupants of all three rows of seats will have an unobstructed View through both sets of windows II and 2.

The seat compartments at the sides are formed by inclined partitions 3 which, in proximity 1'14) the aisle, extend at right angles as shown at The central partitions l5 are of the same formation as the others and extend inwardly and rearwardly from the aisle 9, in an oblique direction and then in a substantially straight line to the aisle II).

The lower seats 6 and 1 are rotatably mounted on the support IS. The partitions |3 at the upper end terminate in a forward extension ll on which the upper seats are rotatably mounted, and these seats, as will be apparent in the art, are out of alignment with the lower seats. The top member I! then extends downwardly as at l8 and forwardly as at |9 being connected with the partition |3 in advance of it and form ing a leg pocket 29 for the occupant of the upper seat. Access to the leg pocket is provided by the steps 2| which open into their respective aisle 9 or ID, at preferably substantially right angles. The adjustable cover 28 may be moved up or down by the passenger to open or close the space necessary to allow easy access to the steps 2|.

The forwardly extending portion I! of the partitions are reinforced by means of the bars or rods 22 connected thereto and to the roof of the passenger seating compartment in any desired or conventional manner. These bars or rods 22 not only form reinforcing members, but also form grasping handles for the passenger passing to and from an upper seat at the right or left hand portion of the vehicle. If a passenger is moving up the steps 2| to pass to! an upper seat 6 he grasps a bar or rod 22 with his right hand and the arm of the seat, which he is to occupy, with his left hand so that he is fully protected in passing to an upper seatand is not liable to fall or stumble. It will beapparent, from the illustrations shown, that the steps 2| are within the seating'compartment so that the aisles 9 and H) are not obstructed.

The central row of seats 8, as before explained, are preferably turned toward the right so that the occupants will naturally look through the Windows U. Steps 23 for the central aisle are similar to the steps 2| in construction and are contained within central lower seating compartment. The adjustable cover plate 29 is similar to the adjustable cover plate 28, already described.

Entrance to and exit from the lower central seats 8 is through the aisle 9 while entrance to and exit from the upper central seats 8 is through the aisle I0. Reinforcing bars or rods 24 extend from the roof to the central partitions l5, which, it will be understood, extend forwardly at the upper ends to support the upper seats and then downwardly and forwardly to form leg pockets for the occupants of the upper seats and these leg pockets are provided with aprons 25 on the side next to the aisle 9.

I also provide the bars or rods 25 extending from the roof to the forwardly extending portion of the central partitions I5. The supports l6 are raised above the floor line 21 for the lower seats.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, I show the upper and lower seats as being in fixed position, instead of being rotatably mounted, it being apparent that in accordance with this invention, either the lower seats, or the upper seats, or both the upper and lower seats may be fixed or may be rotatable. One row of seats may be fixed and the other row rotatable, or any selected seats may be fixed or rotatable as desired and still be within the spirit and scope of the invention. K

A passenger entering the vehicle and intending to occupy the lower seat 6 enters the aisle l0 and steps down into the compartment for his seat, and, in a similar manner, a passenger who desires to occupy a lower central seat enters the aisle 9 and steps down into the compartment for his seat. It will be apparent that beneath these lower seats there is a storage space for the baggage of the passenger.

If the passenger desires to occupy an upper left hand seat he enters the left aisle I0 and walks up the steps 2| into the compartment containing the upper seat. If the passenger desires to occupy a seat in the upper central row of seats he enters the aisle I9 and steps up into the compartment for an upper seat. If the passenger desires to occupy an upper right hand seat he enters the aisle 9 and steps up into the compartment in which his seat is located. It will thus be apparent that the entrance and exit of the passengers will be controlled and evenly divided, with one half using aisle 9 and the other half using aisle It].

It will be apparent that an individual seat is provided for each occupant of the passenger seating compartment. The occupants of the lower seats in the right and left hand rows, each has his own individual window and the same is true of the upper seats, in such rows. The occupants of the superimposed central rows of seats preferably look towards the right. All of the upper seats have in proximity to them grasping bars whereby the passenger can safely pass to and from the seat which he has selected.

While the seats are preferably all rotatably mounted, they can be selectively fixed and the advantages of my seating arrangement can be attained. While each passenger preferably turns his seat at an angle, he may, at his option, face forwardly or be positioned at any desired angle within the range for which the construction is built.

It will be apparent from the foregoing disclosure of this invention that I provide the same luxurious seating comfort to be found in a conventional parlor car seating arrangement as used by railroads, without increasing the overall dimension of standard bodies and more specifically so 111% Y we assume that the distance between the partitions is thirty-six inches and that the front to back depth of a seat is about nineteen inches then instead of obtaining a leg room of only seventeen inches, a leg room is obtained which is substantially from twenty-six inches to twentyeight inches. This, of course, is brought about because the seating compartments are angularly disposed relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and the seats are preferably rotatable to make this excess of leg room instantly available, or they may be permanently fixed in an oblique'position to take advantage of this extra leg room.

If we assume that the width of the seating compartment is ninety inches the arrangement may be such that each aisle will be eighteen inches in width as well as each seating compartment. This provides thirty-six inches of aisle space as compared to the conventional aisle space of about twenty inches where regular double seating is used. This additional aisle space not only enables the passengers to more readily pass to and from the seats but it also materially increases the standing space if the aisles are used, in emergency, to take care of overcrowding.

A standard single deck busof thirty-three feet overall length using a conventional seating arrangement has a maximum capacity of thirtytwo passengers and to obtain individual seating comparable to what is provided for in this inventlon would require an overall length in excess of forty-five feet which is prohibitive under present traflic conditions.

In my present construction I am also able to allow a clearance of thirty-nine inchesbetween the top of the seat proper and the ceiling di rectly over each passengers head, within a maximum height of the body shown from floor to cellof only ninety-seven inches.

While I have shown a seating arrangement employing two aisles with a central row of seats between said aisles it is to be understood that said central row of seats may be dispensed with 5 and a single aisle employed between the two outer rows of seats.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An enclosed passenger seating arrangement for vehicles with side windows, upper and lower compartments in proximity to said windows at one side of the vehicle, said lower compartments having upright partitions extending obliquely from the entrances to said compartments to the sides of the vehicle, seats in said compartments, and a row of lower'seats removed from a side Wall of the Vehicle.-

2. An enclosed passenger seating arrangement for vehicles with side windows, upper and lower compartments in proximity tosaid side windows at one side of the vehicle, the upper of said compartments having leg pockets extending obliquely from the entrances to said compartments to the side of the vehicle, said lower compartments having upright partitions extending obliquely from the entrances to said compartments to the sides of the vehicle, seats in said compartments, and a row of lower seats removed from a side wall of the vehicle.

3. An enclosed passenger seating arrangement for vehicles having side windows, and spaced longitudinally extending aisles, upper and lower compartments in proximity to said aisles, and certain of which are removed from a side wall of the vehicle, the upper of said compartments between an aisle and a vehicle side wall having leg pockets extending obliquely from the entrances to said compartments to the sides of the vehicle, the corresponding lower compartments having upright partitions extending obliquely from the entrances to said compartments to the sides of the vehicle, and seats in said compartments, said obliquely positioned leg pockets and partitions providing for adequate visibility through said windows for the occupants of the lower seats removed from a vehicle side.

4. An enclosed passenger seating arrangement for vehicles having side windows, upper and lower compartments in proximity to side windows at one side of the vehicle, said lower compartments having upright partitions extending obliquely from the entrances to said compartments to the side of the vehicle, seats for said compartments, a row of upper and lower compartments removed from said one side of the vehicle, and seats for said last named compartments, the arrangement of said partitions providing for adequate visibility through said side windows for occupants of the lower seats.

5. An enclosed passenger seating arrangement for vehicles having side windows, upper and lower compartments in proximity to .said side windows, the upper of said compartments having leg pockets extending obliquely from the entrances to said compartments to the sides of the vehicle, said lower compartments having upright partitions extending obliquely from the entrances to said compartments to the sides of the vehicle, a plurality of spaced rows of upper and lower compartments removed from the sides of the vehicle, and seats for said last named compartments, the arrangement of said leg pockets and partitions providing adequate visibility through said side windows for all the occupants of the seats.

WILLIAM A. BROWN. 

